A Strange Kind of Feeling
by Countess Orlock
Summary: Long since after Johnny was resurrected, he tries to continue life as a somewhat of a normal person. However, he meets a female who seems to disrupt his life in the quietest way, and by the quietest way, she doesn't freakin' talk. Like. Ever.
1. A Strange Kind Of Feeling

It was another day, not unlike any other. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and of course, Johnny was out and about. He no longer needed to find victims to paint that blasted wall. However, it was a large part of his life, and he was becoming a little bit rusty, so why the hell not?

It was 3 something, most people are just getting out of school, which means lots of idiot teenagers running around wasting air. While walking down a shopping district, past the scumbag coffee houses and 'indie' shops, he noticed something odd. An empty crosswalk about to obtain a pedestrian.

This particular crosswalk was known for numerous deaths and 'accidents' because of the faulty cross walk sign.. and the asshat drivers who could care less of the safety of pedestrians. Today's unfortunate victim was a girl who looked to be about maybe 17 or so, about 5'2 and rather skinny. Dressed like some goth snob, but yet, sort of hunched over like she had a secret. She looked both ways before taking a step out onto the pavement, all was clear. When she made it halfway, a jerk off in a red convertible was seen in the distance coming at great speed. It was obvious the man had complete disregard for any innocent walkers, hit and run eminent, right? Even better was that the girl just stopped and stared like the obligatory deer on the highway.

As much as Johnny wanted to just watch this unfold, he suddenly felt this urge to.. actually save a life. Of course, not without the pre-banter of realizing the ridiculous stupidity taking place. "Why doesn't that idiot just move? There's a car coming straight for her, why is she just standing there.. She can't be serious.. oh my fucking god, she is."

Suddenly, almost automatically, Johnny practically lifted off the ground in a quick dash to push this poor moron out of the way. In almost a flash, he went from one side of the street to the other, arising from the ground tasting cement and dirt. The girl was in his arms, wide-eyed and shaky. The jerk off slowed down enough to yell expletives such as "Watch where yer goin' ya emo dooosh!" and sped off, possibly victimizing other street walkers.

He stood up, dusted himself off and propped the girl up like a mannequin. He felt a warm liquid running down his forehead, he then touched it to reveal that he was bleeding.

"Awesome. Just.. fucking.. awesome."

She examined his head wound, and pulled a large bandaid out of her bat backpack. "What the hell is wrong with you? Is your skull that horrendously thick that you can't think to move when a car is obviously coming your way?" He snatched the bandaid out of her hand and tried to apply it to the injury. Despite his rudeness, the doe-eyed girl assisted him in bandaging him up.

"Watch where you're fucking going next time. If a car is coming straight at you, do this." He then hopped a couple feet to the right of him, followed by the "See?" hand gesture. She nodded understandably. Shook his hand, bowed quickly and ran off into another direction. All this time without saying a word.

With that, Johnny suddenly lost interest in even trying today and went home.

The next day wasn't different the previous, sunny, singing birds and shit. Today was nothing more than a nice day for a stroll. For some reason we'll never know, he decided to try the shopping district again. This time, entering a coffee shop which the smell of yummy bagels permeated through the windows.

Imagine his surprise when he saw the girl working behind the counter. At first he thought about leaving, and then realized the possibility of a free bagel. He saved her life after all, right?

Before he made a move, the girl spotted him and frantically waved her arm, then signaled for him to go over to her area. When he got there, she lunged over the counter for an abrasive hug. An obvious thank you for the incident the previous day. Right when he was about to pry her off, she jumped off and scurried off, only to arrive back with a fresh bagel and plenty of cream cheese, then pulled out her wallet and put the amount worth the bagel in the register. All he could do was sit there open mouthed. Nevertheless, he did get his free bagel.

While enjoying his rewards, he made glances back at her, often returned with huge smiles and waving. When he left to return home, he wondered why even then, she hadn't made a sound.

So he continued to return to the coffee house, at first only once in a blue moon, until he started showing up at least every day. And every time was greeted with a hug and a free bagel. Half the times he came back was for the free bagel, the other half was because he wanted to see if she talked.. or if her vocal chords even worked. This continued for at least 3 weeks, racking up at least $40 worth of free bagels and cream cheese.

One day, he finally decided to pipe up and say something.

"Hey." She looked up, and waved her hand frantically. "Are you free tonight?" She blushed, and shifted her eyes. She then sort of opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it. Still no sound. She nodded nervously. Thinking nothing of it, he took a scrap of paper from his pocket, grabbed the pen for receipt signers and scribbled an address.

"I'm going to assume that your shift ends at 6 or 7, right?" She again nodded, still nervous as to what he might say, although it's obvious.

"Meet me at this point at about 9 PM." and handed her the note, and walked out.

As he walked home, many thoughts pondered through his mind, like why is he acting so strange? Is he going through the same steps he did with Devi? Why doesn't she talk?

But then, his most important question.

"What the fuck am I gonna wear?


	2. The Precipice

It was getting close to 8:30. Johnny had showered, dressed in some newer clothes, although not looking any different from the clothes he normally dons. He had been hanging out on the cliff for a little while now. Eager to be there when she arrived, although becoming extremely impatient.

The moon was full tonight, and it was a beautiful sight. Only some of the stars were visible, the rest unable to show due to the lights emitting from the city below.

He sat on top of his beat up car, just gazing off into the perpetual abyss called the sky. The wind slowly and gently shook the trees and gave a nice breeze to the warm night. He pondered about his past. All the people who ever teased him, all who begged for mercy when faced with death, some of those who really were just innocent people. Like Edgar. Although he felt a strange pang of guilt, he reveled in the obvious fact that they deserved it for treating him so cruelly for minding his own business.

The calm silence was interrupted when the noise of crunchy leaves were made. The silhouette of a familiar figure began to appear. Yes, it was that girl.

He motioned for her to join him on the car. She hesitated, then made a mad dash. In a swift and smooth moment, she jumped and landed next to him. At first he was surprised, then just brushed it off. It may be part of a list of strange super powers she has within.

"So uh.. I'm not one for small talk, but I'll attempt it. How are you this evening?" He uttered. She looked at him, then to the ground, and shook her hand in that 'so-so' manner, then nodded her head in his direction, as if to say '_what about you?'_

"Me? Well, I'm adequate compared to how I've been feeling." She tilted her head in curiosity, leading him to continue.

"Well it's nothing really. I'm just starting to truly believe that 99.9% of the population is just riddled with wastes of flesh. Every time I go outside, I think that maybe there'd be someone out there that actually wants to connect with me, someone that doesn't want to insult and torture me for sheer entertainment. The fact that I'm of the same genus of these fools is punishment enough. Must I continue torturing myself trying to find someone that doesn't make me want to rip them into ribbony shreds?"

As soon as he realized his true colors were coming out, he attempted to save face and tried to repair by it with "Not that I actually would, even if I had the ability to."

She just shrugged, not phased by the minor mention of violence.

"I guess you're not much of a talker, huh?"

Her mouth twitched as if it pained her to hear that, then just looked off beyond the cliff. She pulled up her legs and wrapped her arms around them like she hadn't seem them in so long, and buried her jaw in her knees. Johnny decided to not pry. Instead, for hours on end, opened up to her about how he sees the world and the people who inhabit it. He also spoke of his favorite flavors of things, the kinds of shows he watches and the films he likes to see in the cinema. The girl just listened and smiled often in response. As he opened up more, he started to feel enjoyment in revealing his personality. Not so much that he liked her or anything, but the fact someone that wasn't a figment of his imagination was listening to the things he had to say.

It wasn't until the sun started to rise that he realized how long he had been talking.

"Wow, it's morning. Holy Jesus on a stick.. heh.. It's 7:23 am.. Didn't realize how long I was talking." He chuckled slightly, she smiled. "If you'd like, I can take you home. Surely your folks are worried about you." She shrugged and looked off into the horizon.

They got into his car, and she directed the way by merely pointing fingers. The drive wasn't far, but it was certainly would be a lengthy walk. He finally stopped in front of a modest house, looked to be about 2 bedroom, backyard, all the niceties. Before exiting, she waved her hand and smiled as she typically did and hopped out. She bowed her head as if she were a japanese student, and slowly walked toward the little home.

Johnny smiled a little, and began to drive away.

However, when he looked back from his rearview mirror, he noticed that she was no longer heading toward that house, but walked the opposite direction down the street.

Something ain't right here.


	3. Hollow Eyes

"I don't understand.. I just don't understand."

"What's not to understand?"

"You would think that someone who never utters a sound would have any secrets."

"That's where you'd be wrong."

In these days, the only voice that Johnny hears other than his own is Nail Bunny, his obvious voice of reason.

He never really says anything, but in recent events, some questions began to arise. Like the weird girl from the coffee place.

"Johnny, don't you think she's a little shy?" "No, shy people talk. Even if they don't all that often, they still talk."

"Could it be that she's a mute? or that you scare her?'

"Please. If I scared her, she wouldn't bother being in the same vicinity as me. As far as being mute, that doesn't make any sense. She once almost said something, but then just, didn't." He twirled his hands and contorted his face gratuitously as though it caused him great discomfort to try to comprehend.

"Hmm.. what could she be hiding? Was she a witness to a murder? Taken a vow of silence? … secretly a man dressing as a woman?" He shuddered at the thought that people partake in such oddities.

"I wouldn't spend too much thinking about it Johnny. It could drive you.. never mind."

"Nothing at this point will ever make me anymore insane than I already am. I am lucid however, am I not? So many people these days use mental illness as a fashion accessory, or an excuse for poor behavior. For example, someone will be extremely rude, loud and obnoxious, their reason? 'I have ADHD' which is followed by laughing it off and continuing to annoy everyone within the area. The fuck of it is, is that they don't' truly understand the struggle and difficulties ADHD victims have with living everyday life. They wouldn't understand the true horrors of not being able to focus long enough to live comfortably, can't drive, can't graduate high school, or even have a conversation with another person. Not to mention the expensive medication and the constant supervision necessary to ensure safety."

With that, Johnny continued to spew out words of self-induced wisdom for a while. Inadvertently droning out the rest of the world around him, until he looked at the time and realized that it was the afternoon, and that yet again he had rambling on for hours. He never stopped to notice that Nail Bunny wasn't responding.

He decided to not leave the house the rest of the day, after much ranting and raving, one needs to collect their thoughts at the risk of spilling ill-advised malice everywhere in the form of destruction.

Plus, it was a good day to catch on up some TV.

A couple days had gone by where he didn't leave the house. He spend his time inside just sitting and marinating in his thoughts, not even acknowledging the television. Part of it was thinking of how he was going to get little-miss-goth-mute to talk, the latter was about hobos and squirrels, those clever rodents.

When he finally decided to go outside, it was near evening time. Although the sun was still out, it was an orange color, and the weather was considerably chilly, with the impending fall coming about the corner. He walked by a high school, by this time the students have long been dismissed. However, you can always expect to see bum teenagers to just hang around like ne'er do wells. There wasn't a group, but a couple. Or so he thought. A very tall male, black hair with an fluffy asymmetrical cut, dressed up like a reject audition for The Crow, without the silly makeup of course. The other was a female about 5'2 and.. wait, that's that weird quiet girl. They looked as if they were arguing.. or really, he was just yelling at her, and she took it. She just kept looking at the ground, and the guy continued to shout. Johnny crept closer and quietly to eavesdrop.

"You're so fucking stupid, you know that? All I asked was to have a threesome with Minerva and you, and you made me look like an idiot. Maybe I'll just dump you and go out with her, at least she gives better head than you do, considering you never even tried? What's the matter little snowball? Life hard being a prude? Haha, you're so fuckin' pathe-THWACK!

She heard a thud, and looked up to see that her abuser was unconscious on the ground, and that her savior was the strange angry man who saved her from certain death. He wielded a broken off pipe, which he used to bludgeon the ingrate.

"I'm terribly sorry for that, but I couldn't stand his voice nor his incredible ignorance." The look on her face wasn't so much shock as it was worry. She squatted down to look the wound, and As if it were merely a scratch, she took another bandaid from her little backpack and stuck it on like a post it.

"How many of those do you carry? Are you always coming across bleeding people?" She stood up to pull up her long black skirt to reveal multiple scrapes and injuries covered by bandaids. It reminded him of little children who get hurt playing too rough on the playground.

"Lordy! Do you walk through fields of glass?" She shrugged and wiped her hands on her skirt. They stood there for a little while. While she spaced off in other directions, he studied her, never before did he take the time to notice her appearance. She had black shoulder length hair, she styled it to look like two little black wings that sat on both sides of her head. Her eyes were a dark gray, and her expression was almost fixated on a confused and worried expression, constantly looking like she had no idea where she was. She always dressed in long flowing black clothes, often looking like Elvira or some goth model, although she'd be a terrible one because she was short and didn't ever look serious.

After realizing they had been standing around a bleeding unconscious guy for at least 15 minutes, he took note that this probably doesn't look well. Not that he cared, he never got caught.

"We should probably go. Shall we at least drop him off at the hospital?" She shrugged, and her facial expression said it's not important.

"Someone will find him. Let's go." Before they took a step, his victim began to moan. Without even thinking, Johnny simply kicked him with his boot, turned around and walked away. The girl patted her abusers head, and hopped over him.

"So I'm going to safely assume that amoeba was your boyfriend?" He said. She nodded her head and let out a sigh of embarrassment. "You people and your parasitic relationships. I don't know much about them, or anything at all, but I don't believe such a thing can work when it only benefits one."

They drove on towards his favorite hangout, the precipice that looks over the city below. The whole time she just looked out the window. Still not making a sound.

He came to the conclusion that he will need to make it a point to find out if she's truly capable of conversing, hiding something, or really just a mute.

The sun was still setting, the sky was various shades of orange and purple, and the city below was starting to turn on their lights.

"Sigh.. The sun always seem so pretty going down. But, at least I know that I'll get the moon. The sun is pretty, but the moon is so beautiful. So pale and illuminating. The moon is my best friend, I go through so many sleepless nights with the moon. I can always tell it my thoughts, my opinions, everything. Because it's the fucking moon! It's not going to vomit back rude and hurtful comments at me about how skinny I am or how 'wacky' I look, or that I should run away with the circus, and that Hitler wants his haircut back or some stupid vile shit that people throw at me, just for me being me. What have I done to deserve that kind of shit? It confounds me as to how they think it's perfectly okay to heckle an innocent person, but again, how do they know whether or not I'm so innocent. They could laugh at me and in those few minutes, I could easily pull out a blade and slice off their lips without a second thought. And I'd be within my right to. Wouldn't I?" As he stopped, he realized that he was sweating with anger. He took his sleeve and wiped his face. And muttered about how human fluids are so disgusting.

Abruptly, he caught himself too late. He had said some vulgar things that could alarm a bail bonds agent. He quickly turned around expecting the worst. What he got was only a tilted head. To him, it was surreal as to how she was not phased or shocked at the barbaric ranting he produced.

Instead of feeling safe, he became vexed. She just sat there like nothing was wrong or disturbed. Johnny, without even thinking, stomped over and slammed his hands on both sides of her. She became noticeably panic stricken, eyes wide and hands pulled back like she was preparing to defend herself.

"How can you listen to me talk about slicing lips off and not even blink an eye? More importantly, how could you, or _anyone_ hang around someone who constantly rambles on about how fucked they are, and you could give a shit? Are you another one of those people who enjoys hearing others suffer and wallow in their own misery? Maybe you're just spying on me to get my most personal information and secrets to bring back to your high and mighty little friends so you could torture me from the inside, and that this whole shy mute this is a ploy to get me to trust you. Well I don't buy it for one minute, you may think you're smart and clever but I'm two fuckin' steps ahead of you."

He then found himself on the ground, with the girl standing over him, breathing heavily as though she had just sprinted.

"FUCK OFF YOU FUCKIN' FUCK!" And sped off at an inhumane speed..

At first, he began to stew over the audacity she had to force him to the ground..

But she talked..


	4. Indignation

It had been at least 2 weeks since Johnny's last encounter with the strange girl. He sat at home, festering with confusion, anger and a want to understand. She didn't say a word for the whole time until he finally snapped, did she snap as well? Her voice sounded like an angel being strangled. Somewhat sweet, but with the prominent irritation, she might as well have been high pitched with anger. He didn't feel any remorse, for all he knew, she was a mental spy sent to destroy his life. What other reason would she have for lacking any kind of loquacity?

"How dare she try to invade my personal life like that? Her insolence makes me very displeased, of course it's my fault for trying to be friendly. I should've known better."

"Maybe you pushed her over the edge as well?" Replied Nail Bunny.

"Non-sense. She had plenty of chances to prove she wasn't a brain spy. Notice how she didn't speak until I called her out on the spotlight. It was so evident that she was out for something and it wasn't my friendship... Why would she be? Why would anyone be? I'm nothing more than an oddity for people to laugh and mock. How foolish it was of me to believe that someone would actually want to befriend me. I'm so hideous, on the inside and out. Curse me for being so pathetic."

"You're not pathetic Johnny. Not in the least. I think you had a genuine friend and you scared her away is all. Maybe if you apologize to her, sh-" "NO! She wasn't my friend, she wasn't anybody to me, just another untouchable laughing at the great unwashed."

From then on, Johnny stayed at home, only going out to grab sustenance. He hadn't any desire to leave his abode.

A handful of weeks had gone by before Johnny realized that it was November. In those weeks, instead relaxing and getting over things, he had festered and fussed over his last encounter with her. No one had ever caused him so much distress, this was starting to become a pain, and he had to do something about it, soon.

He set out for the coffee place with the bagels. At first he started out with a very brisk stride, but after a few blocks, he became exhausted. He was also wearing boots, which hurt his feet.

"What the fuck was I thinking? Blisters ahoy!"

The cafe seemed vacant, only being occupied by a few 'aspiring authors' and high school beatniks. She was not there. Right as he was about to turn around and leave, "You lookin' for Pandora?"

"Er.. who?"

"Pandora, the quiet girl who works here sometimes?" It was a tall girl with glasses and long black hair. She seemed like she's been around for a while, she was obviously older.

"I guess. Is she here?"

"Nah, she's been focusing on school and having those days where she wants nothing to do with people. Happens a lot really."

"I see. So does that mean she no longer works here?"

"She does, whenever she wants to. She's my little sister, and I know she can't possibly get a job anywhere else with how quiet she is. Hell, when we were kids, our mom would check the back seat on occasion just to make sure she was still there."

He chuckled slightly, and headed for the counter.

"I know she pays for your bagels, but that's because you saved her something. With me, you gotta pay."

"Well, that sucks. But I was actually going to ask if she.. talked.. at all?"

"She does. There was a period where she didn't do anything except talk, talk, talk. Of course, this was after we persuaded her to not be so shy. Oh did we regret that. Pandora loved to go on about how she loved her desserts, she has a major sweet tooth, the funny things that happened at school and just be a chatty kathy all day."

"Pandora?"

"Yeah, Pandora Tempest Snow. Our parents were obsessed with obscure names. I would've preferred Pandora over Chrysanthemum Amaranth. You wouldn't believe how many people spelled and pronounced my name wrong."

"I can only imagine.. So, why is she quiet now?" Chrysanthemum twitched, before she answered.

"I have no honest idea, however I believe it had something to do with that idiot boyfriend of hers."

".. Boyfriend? Is he the guy with the fluffy hair?"

"Yeah. His name name is Derek Klimer, but he prefers to be called Death. He's such a tool. I heard that some guy hit him on the head with a blunt object and kicked him in the head afterwards. Supposedly, he only has a concussion. Finally, some justice." He giggled quietly.

"So, when is she coming back to work?"

"Can't say. I just let her come in whenever she wants. She might be holed up in her room, staring at the wall. I have to poke her sometimes to make sure she hasn't gone catatonic. It's like having an arthritic mouse for a sister. If you want, you can come visit her if you'd like. I can give you a ride after work."

"Well, if she wants to be dormant, I have no right to disturb her. Besides, I'm not sure if she wants to see me.."

"Well why not? Did you do something?"

"Well uh.. No. I just don't think I should pester her if she's feeling reclusive. I certainly don't want people badgering me when I'm feeling like that."

".. I see. Well, if you change your mind. This is our address. Feel free to stop by anytime."

Johnny took the note and walked out. He made plans to stop by the next night.

That evening, he stood in front of his mirror. He gazed upon his face for a long time, what was minutes seemed like years. In what he saw was all the damage others had done to him. They weren't visible but the scars of cruelty were all in his eyes. The bags under his eyes reminded him of the many nights he'd gone without sleep. All those nights dwelling on those who called him a freak, those who inflicted violence on him for being strange, those who isolated him just for being himself. He then shed one tear, and upon realizing the wetness streaming from his eye, he promptly shattered the looking glass. The shards exploded towards him and fell towards the ground. He stood there frozen, silently sobbing to himself. The tears of agony burned through his eyes as they poured out, his fist still buried in the remains of the mirror.

He then pulled his head up, and looked into one of the remaining pieces of the mirror. Eyes red with pain.

"I'm a sniveling clod. This needs to end."

He removed his hand and looked at the tiny pieces of glass embedded in his fingers, the blood slowly cascading from the wounds down his arm and dripping on to the floor.

"Ow.."

The time was soon 11:30 PM.

Meanwhile, in a certain purple and black room, a particular girl stares at her wall. She sat on her bed, looking intently at the purple colored plaster. She wasn't contemplating, she wasn't catatonic, she was just staring. No thoughts, no murderous plans, just motionless. Only breathing and blinking. When she heard a knocking, her eyes widened and abruptly turned to the door.

"Pandora?" The familiar voice belonged to her sister, who then let herself in.

"Hey, just wanted to see if you were here. I know you like to disappear every now and again." Pandora shrugged.

"Oh, before I forget. I saw that friend of yours today. You know, the one you always give free bagels to?" Pandora's eye twitched. Instead of saying anything, she continued to stare at the wall.

"I see. Well, if you're hungry, there's pizza downstairs. Oh, and mom was feeling oriental, so if you're in the mood for Korean, there's gamjatang as well." Chrysanthemum left. Pandora now goggled at her wall with a distressed expression. She could feel her fingers convulsing as she gripped the blanket. Her toes curled inside her shoes, the restriction of space caused her pain, but she seemed to ignore for the sheer bliss of anger.

She suddenly heard a tapping at her window..


	5. Veracity

The tapping made her opens her eyes wide enough for them to fall out. She didn't jump, but she gripped the sheets even tighter. A male silhouette darkened her window, and it was still tapping at it rhythmically.

".. Er.. Pandora? It's me." She jumped up, and grabbed the nearest object to arm herself with. Her eyes were still wide, and it almost seemed like her hair was standing up as a cat would when it feels threatened. The male silhouette began to fidget with the sides of the window, looking to open it. Pandora froze, holding her projectile tightly and her arm raised above her head. She heard a clicking noise, and the glass slid up.

"Pandora, I.. .. What's with the teddy bear?" It was Johnny, and he had found Pandora in the position to either throw a grenade or become a magician. Neither had happened.

She still stood there rigid, eyes becoming very dilated, and very possible that her breathing may have either quickened or stopped. Johnny managed to climb the window, she still hadn't moved, but her eyes were fixated on his movement. He walked toward her slowly, with his hands mid-torso.

"Look, I'm not here to harm you. I just wanted to come here, and apologize.." Pandora's face contorted, she displayed obvious discomfort. Her mouth had opened, however it didn't even seem like she was going to say anything. Rather, she let out a sort of growling, gurgling noise that was high pitched, then the lights in her eyes disappeared, and she collapsed. She fell backward, hit her head on the wall and crumpled into a pile on the floor. Johnny just stood there in utter shock, mouth ajar, rigid.

"Pandora! Is everything alright?" The door opened and Chrysanthemum popped her head in. She looked at Pandora, then to Johnny, back to Pandora, then glared at Johnny.

"Let me guess, you got in through the window, she panicked and worked herself up until she passed out from the stress?" He nodded.

"Ugh." She walked in and pulled her younger sister off the floor, and laid her on the bed. Her face looked as if she was just sleeping.

"Did she hit her head? I heard a thump."

"Er, yeah. I didn't push her or anything, she just fell backward."

"Well, she's gonna wake up with a wicked headache. Why was she holding Mr. Dastardly?" She picked up the would-be projectile. The bear in question was a regular sized teddy bear, he had a little top hat, a monocle and a tiny mustache. Johnny giggled.

"Er, I guess she was planning to throw it at me."

"Figures. Mr. Dastardly has been through a lot of Hell, especially when that idiot Derek came along." Her eye twitched.

"Poor bear, he means a lot to her. You'd think she'd treat him with a lot more care with how much he means to her." She dusted him off and placed him in Pandora's arms.

"Listen, I have to get going. Is it possible for you to watch over her and make sure she wakes up and is okay? I'd leave that up to our parents but.. they're on another planet."

"… On, another planet?"

"Sigh.. They're huge hippies now, I swear. They're bombed out of their minds on opium or some hallucinogen. They aren't bad people, just not fit for parenting. I practically raised Pandora myself, as to why she's so quiet is beyond me." She touched Pandora's forehead, and left. The silence settled in, and so did the uneasy feeling of watching someone sleeping. He wasn't sure whether to stay or leave, but he was asked to watch her..

So he plopped down on the floor. He looked around her room, she had a canopy bed with spiderweb lace draped over it, posters of makeup clad boys, and multiple teddy bears, some normal, others adorned with little outfits such as suits or dresses, with top hats or tea cups glued to their paws. The room, other than the teddy bears, was that of a typical goth teenager, decorated with skulls and spiders, a bookshelf of horror stories and bad poetry, boots piled on top of each other. He looked to his left and saw a small table. There was a picture frame, and the picture was of her, and the stupid 'Death Guy'. She was smiling, and it was genuine. She looked as though she was enjoying herself, she had her arms wrapped around him, and he was smiling as well, however his was a more sleazy, dark smile. Like he was planning to ruin her. He set the picture frame down, and flipped it facedown. He looked over at Pandora, still resting peacefully despite the fact she may have a concussion. He pulled off his little backpack, and pulled out a book.. his Die-ary.

"Hello again Die-ary..

In recent events, I've encountered a girl who is possibly not human. That or she's somehow broken. She doesn't talk, she doesn't make attempts at proper communication, she can't seem to cope with reality very well, almost like me. From what I understand, she seems to have been able to talk at some point, that is, before this Death guy came into the picture. Although it's none of my business, I'm curious to know what that cretin is capable of to break someone. He doesn't look like he possesses much power but I've seen the worst come out of small things. It intrigues me that this little person, insignificant to the human eye, has caused so much disruption in my life, thoughts of her cloud my brain. I'm not in love with her, I don't have feelings for her, my head is infected with curiosities. I have better things to do than to waste my short life fussing over some teenage brat. Still, Whatever it is I find, it had better be worth discovering.."

A few hours had passed. Tired of sitting on the floor just poking around his area, he decided to get up and snoop around. He scanned the bookshelf for something interesting, maybe a diary of some sorts. He had found a black book, with purple engraved writing that said "Pandora Snow" and it was bound with a black ribbon. He untied the ribbon, and marveled at how neat and kept the book was, no scratches, no creases or imperfections. It was if it had just been bought. He opened it and saw a neatly written passage on the inside

"This little book belongs to Pandora T. Snow. Please return if found, bad things are bound to happen to those who keep stolen goods."

Beneath it was a scrawled message that looked like it was written with a broken ink pen.

"I love you Panda-Bear! Lovers since November 7th, 2009!"

"So, they've been together for over a year, huh?" The first few pages were just drawings, scribbles of cats, crows, spiders. Sometimes they'd be diary entries about the day. Menial things. As he set to put the book away, he started to notice that her drawings were becoming erratic. The cute little kitties started baring teeth and claws, the birds had eyeballs hanging by the nerve in their beaks, and no descriptive entries, just scribbles of obvious distress on every other page.  
>"You can't make me."<br>"This isn't fair."  
>"I want to smile again."<br>"It's dark in here."  
>"Stop touching me."<br>"I don't want to die."  
>"Help me."<br>"I hate you."

Suddenly, there a torn out page, only half the date at the top. 'May 1'

He turned to a page with a neatly written sentence, colored a dark red. It wasn't Pandora's handwriting.. nor was it Deaths.

"No need to be scared anymore."

**Author's note: Yes, I know that JtHM was set and released in the 90's, but since a lot of people break the laws of time when it comes to fanficton anyway, let's just pretend he's still in his early 20's in the late 00's. Mmk? Can we play along?**


	6. Pandemonium

**Hello followers! I'm sorry this took so long. I've been busy with work, school, and anime conventions.  
>I promise more chapters very very soon! <strong>

"Maybe Chrysanthemum wrote it.." Johnny thought.

He started to put it away when he heard the rustling of bed sheets. He quickly shoved the book back on the shelf and turned around to see Pandora waking up. She slowly sat up, and grabbed the back of her head. As she cradled her head, she turned to find the strange angry man in her room. Instead of screaming, she quickly got under the blanket, as though he didn't just see her. Johnny heaved a heavy sigh, and walked over to the bed. With each footstep, he could see that she was curling up in a little ball underneath the blanket. What he didn't expect was for her to freak out and roll off the other side of the bed. With the loud thud, there followed a small cry and whimpering.

"Pandora, this is ridiculous. I'm not here to hurt you. Will you please get up?" Her whimpering stopped. He peered over the bed to see her still curled up. Frustrated, he crawled over the bed and ripped the blanket off her. Her head had a small cut and was bleeding. Not profusely, but she had a stream of blood running down from the top of her temple to the side of her cheek. She covered her face with her hands and continued to act childish. Johnny became fed up.

"Grr.. I've had enough of this bullshit!" He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her off the floor. Her eyes widened and she looked as if she was going to cry any second. His teeth clenched, and growling, he scared her to tears. She shut her eyes.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!"

Before he could blink, he found himself flying out the window, and on the ground. He tried to get up, but glass was embedded in his back, and the pain made it difficult to move. He looked at the window, and saw that a dark red light was emitting from the room. The light flickered slowly, and somehow.. the glass repaired itself. A sound similar to someone exhaling permeated the air. The light flickered, and then it stopped. The curtains closed, and the light was gone.

He stood up, brushed the dirt off him and tried to pick off the glass. He was in incredible amounts of pain. He stared at the window for a few minutes, waiting for something, anything else to happen.

"What the flying fuck was that.. " He bit his lip in agony, and limped away from the house. Instead of going to his house, he decided to visit his favorite little neighbor boy. Todd, or as Johnny calls him, Squee.

Squee had spent some time in that weird mental hospital his parents tried to leave him in. However, they had sent him back to make room for other patients, much to his fathers dismay. He looked in his bedroom window to see Squee drawing in a notebook. He opened the window and poked his head in.

"Hey! Long time no see little buddy." Squee looked up and yipped. It was the creepy neighbor man.

"Listen, I don't mean to bug you this late at night, but can you help me out? I got these pieces of glass in my back and they hurt. Really bad."

Squee initially freaked out and back up against the wall.

"Eee.. you're not gonna kill me, are you?"

"Now why would I do that? You're my little buddy :D"

Squee shook and trembled, but he swallowed his fear and began to steadily dig out the glass fragments from Johnny's back.

"Heh, in case you're wondering, apparently glass breaks when you fly through it, and it can cut the human epidermis pretty bad. What I would give to have skin like a hippo right now. Heheh."

"Uhm.. Why were you trying to fly? People can't fly.. can they?"

"I've heard that some can but I've ye-OW!" Squee panicked.

"Wowzers. That sure hurt a lot.." His eye twitched, yet he still tried to smile. He looked very deranged.

After the glass was harvested from his skin, he thanked Squee for his assistance and quietly left. He resorted to hiding out in his house yet again.

"What in the ever loving fuck is going on? Now there's just some scary demon shit going and I can't make sense of any of it!" His eyes were bulging out of his skull and his fists were throbbing with anger. The confusion of it all was driving him up a wall. He started pacing back and forth, and eventually started spouting out gibberish and weird noises.

"Johnny, you're becoming unwound. Please calm down." Said Nail Bunny.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! MOI?! Hahaha, oh no. I have a whole new set of problems, my rotting pet. There I was, just watching her sleep, when she wakes up, and all this weird shit starts happening.

The next thing I know, I'm flung out the window like a chinese baby girl into a river. I knew she was hiding something! She's like an esper or something."

A few days had past, and he decided to head to the little cafe place to see if things had changed, but when he got there, it was closed. A sign on the door read 'Closed due to maintenance/renovations'

The windows were covered up by black construction paper and it looked like it had been done hastily. The door was locked, so he snuck around the back and broke the back door's handle with a rock.

Johnny was immediately greeted with an odd smell. It was like bittersweet smell but also had the hint of burnt candles. He walked into the main area and saw it was nearly obliterated. The tables were flipped over and broken, chairs were embedded into the wall, and the desserts were flung about the room like the aftermath of a food fight.

As he tried to move around, broken glass and porcelain from coffee cups crunched underneath his boots. He went towards the bathrooms and found that there was a light on in the women's. The inside was trashed. Toilet paper, magazines, soap, and broken off counter top fragments were tossed about. The sink was left running and it was overflowing. On the mirror, the words "YOU DON'T OWN ME" were etched in, possibly with a key.  
>He looked down into the sink and saw that there was a book submerged in the water. He fished it out and realized it was Pandora's diary. When opening it, Johnny discovered that the pages were dry as bone, as if a drop of water has never touched it. When he tried to skim through the pages for anything new, he heard clamor somewhere in the building.<br>He quickly stuffed the little book inside his backpack and ran off. Whether someone beside him was in there or not, he'll never know.


	7. Tumultuous

**Hey guys, I'm sorry for the postponed update. Life got incredibly busy and I lost my job, which wouldn't matter except my new chapters were on there and I couldn't salvage them. I deeply apologize but I hope you enjoy this new chapter. I promise to have more on here very soon. **

What seemed like eternity for Johnny, was really only a couple of hours of sitting across the room from the mysterious book he retrieved from the destroyed cafe bathroom. There was something ominous about it, whenever he tried to go near it, there was a thickness in the air. If the air could feel numb, it'd be a hot and cold feeling. It also felt heavy.

But this is complete bullshit, right? How could a book be evil? Then again, stranger things have happened, especially in his life.

He had it, this book wasn't gonna dictate his actions, it was a fucking book. He could set it on fire if he wanted to.. couldn't he? He did find it submerged under running water but yet, it was completely dry.. but there had to be something done. He had been sitting a yard or two away, just staring at it, expecting something to happen. But nothing.

Other than the strange air it radiated, there was nothing happening. He was sitting in fear of a tree by-product, this had to end now. He got up and marched through its thickness and forced his hand upon the book and an ice cold chill surged through his veins like a quick acting snake bite, his bloodlines bulging through his skin while his fingers twitched. He could hear multiple voices whispering through his skull like a beehive, then the room went black, but not before seeing the floor beneath him give way and collapse.

Johnny found himself falling through a void. Tortured screams and curses fled by him like normal 5 PM traffic, he tried to scream as well but his throat wouldn't produce a sound, he was drowning inside the noise. His mouth felt stiff, though he could open it, trying to make a sound felt like swallowing sand. As he continued to spiral down, he noticed a black hole opening up, several tentacle like appendages catapulted out, reaching for him. As they wrapped around his wrists and ankles, he started to panic and squirm to fight against them, however, there was no getting out of it.

_"I've seen enough japanese shit to know where this is going!" _

He was pulled down into the blackness, and suddenly, it was cold. Dark, cold, and quiet.

"I wondered when you'd make your way here." A female voice broke the silence, it was still black.

"Who's there?!" Johnny shouted. He felt vulnerable, and somewhat frightened, being blind left him an easy target.

"I swear to god, don't fuck with me! I can't see!"

"Maybe you could if you'd open your eyes." With that, his eyelids flew open. He wasn't prepared to see where he had landed. All around him was dark and colorful Escher painting, stairs leading to who the fuck knows, doors containing what the fuck ever, and it didn't seem to end. Malformed looking people, or rather humanoid goblins inhabited the area. They seemed to just slum about, walking very slowly, keeping to themselves and their bodies, muttering odd noises and cursing. There were pictures on the angled walls, they had very familiar faces and things in them. Of Pandora, of 'Death', fields of broken glass, various scenes of discomfort and agony.

"What took you so long?" And standing before him, was Pandora. Sort of.

It looked like her, had her hair, face, and clothes, but her voice was different. It wasn't squeaky, rather, it was stern, almost angry, like she had shit to say and made sure she was heard.

"Pandora?"

"Well I'm certainly not a giant crab monster, am I?"

"Where am I? I've been to Hell so I know it isn't that. Purgatory?"

"I guess you could say it's my personal hell, but this is the inside of my mind. My subconscious." This Pandora wasn't anything like the one in real life aside from aesthetics. She looked bitter, like she wasn't gonna take anyone's shit, not even Johnny's.

"How am I here?"

"You tried to get into my diary. In case you couldn't tell, I tried to get rid of it. There's something very wrong with that book, instead of being a simple place to confide my thoughts, it has been plaguing me to the point of utter madness."

"Were you like this before?"

"Well, not really, I was always quiet and calm. I was starting to come out of my shell, and then I found that book. It just.. called to me. I met Death and then, everything just changed.." She looked down at the floor.

"I don't understand."

"What I don't understand is how in your mind, you're horrendously vocal, but in the real world, you've only yelled expletives at me." She winced and shook her head. She began to walk towards a door that had a picture of a star on it, and on the star, it said Pandora.

"I.. I don't know what happened. It's like there's someone else here.. like they're not supposed to be here." She opened the door slightly, put her head on it and closed her eyes.

"I just want to reclaim myself." And disappeared inside the door. Johnny tried to follow but the door disappeared as well.

He looked around, and found that the goblins had been staring at him, but as soon as he looked at them, they resumed their muttering business. He began looking for another door, he had no idea what to make of the situation, nothing made sense. He didn't want to have to tread in different dimensions again, but this was nothing like Heaven and Hell. The book was a gateway to the depths of some teenage girl's mind, and all it had to reveal was pure mayhem.

One door finally appeared, the frame was covered in shards of glass, and the star had a name or word on it, but it had been scratched off, perhaps with a knife.

Still, it was the only other door within reach, and a voice from inside began calling him in..

"No need to be scared.."


End file.
